A friend recommended Michael Clayton to me some time ago (ie. when it was still showing in theaters), but it took me until this week to check it out of the library (to be fair, I requested it some time ago). My timing was impressive: Just last week there was an article in The New Yorker about Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the movie. The article refers to Michael Clayton several times, and talks extensively about Gilroy’s use of the reversal. From The New Yorker article:

Gilroy told me, “A reversal is just anything that’s a surprise. It’s a way of keeping the audience interested.” A camera follows a man as he goes up the stairs to an apartment; we see his wedding ring as he pulls out his keys. He pushes open the door, slowly—a husband coming home, trudging up the stairs with his briefcase. But a woman in black lingerie greets him: he’s seeing his mistress! That is a reversal.

It was fun to watch out for and identify reversals, as well as other points discussed in the article.

Beyond the co-incidence of watching a film so soon after reading an article about it, Michael Clayton is an excellent film. The DVD case describes it as a thriller, but it’s so much more than that. It reminded me a little of The Firm, albeit faster paced, and much more subtle. There’s remarkably little violence or use of special effects, no inclusion of a forced love interest (which is a bit of a relief, really) and the plot twists and turns (all those reversals!) so well that you’re constantly engaged.